M. Water Polo: Falcons split their four games at the Golden West Tournament

Falcons split four games at Golden West Tournament
Falcons split four games at Golden West Tournament
Competing in their third consecutive tournament, the Cerritos College men's water polo team opened the Golden West Tournament by splitting their two games on Friday. They opened with a tough 9-7 loss to Los Angeles Valley College, but rebounded with a 16-10 win over Southwestern College. On Saturday, the Falcons (6-6) absorbed a close 12-10 loss to nemesis Saddleback College and then defeated Ventura College, 11-7 in the seventh place game.

The team will play their first home game of the season next Wednesday when they host Santa Monica College at 4:15 p.m. in a non-conference game.

Cerritos vs. LA Valley: Taking on a nemesis for years, the Falcons stayed close the whole match, but could not score the key goal to draw even. Trailing 6-3 at intermission, Cerritos found themselves down, 7-4 until three consecutive goals drew them to within a goal, as they were down, 8-7. After Christian Acosta (Schurr HS) scored, Julian Almanza (St. John Bosco HS) found the back of the net twice with 53 seconds remaining in the third period. However, the Monarchs scored with 30 second remaining to take a two-goal lead heading into the final period. Once again, Cerritos got back to within a goal after Drew Gilbert (Garden Grove HS) scored with 7:31 left in the game. But that would be the team's final goal, with LA Valley adding an insurance goal with 4:27 left. Acosta and Almanza each scored twice, with sophomore goalkeeper Aiden Parra (California HS) making nine saves in the match.
 
Cerritos vs. Southwestern: After a slow start to the game, the Falcons scored goals in bunches, with four different goal scorers in the second period. After Almanza picked up his second goal of the period (and third in the game), Cerritos held an 8-3 advantage. The Jaguars drew to within 8-5, but the Falcons scored five of the final six goals in the period, with Acosta picking up three more. They maintained their lead and posted the 16-10 win. Almanza and sophomore Guillermo De La Mora (La Serna HS) each scored four times, while De La Mora also added four assists and four steals. Almanza led the defense with six steals, while the Falcons had seven different goal scorers. Parra, who picked up the win, made five saves,
 
Cerritos vs. Saddleback: Another nemesis of the Falcons for the last several years, the Bobcats pulled out another close game. The team is 1-9 in their last 10 games against Saddleback, with four of the losses by three or fewer goals. Trailing 7-5 at intermission, Almanza scored the team's lone goal in the third period to get to within 7-6. However, the Bobcats scored the next four goals to open an 11-6 lead in the fourth period. Cerritos battled back in the final 2:12 and scored four times, but it wasn't enough in the setback. Gilbert, Almanza and De La Mora all scored twice in the game, with Almanza adding five steals. Parra turned away 11 shots in goal.
 
Cerritos vs. Ventura: It took more than a period for the Falcons to start generating any offense, as they trailed the Pirates, 3-0 after the first eight minutes. They responded with three Almanza goals in the second period, while De La Mora added another, as the Falcons trailed just 5-4 at halftime. Ventura opened the second half with a pair of goals for a 7-4 lead, but the Cerritos defense would shut them out the remainder of the game and score seven straight goals to secure the victory. Almanza finished with a team-high four goals, with Marco Uribe (St. John Bosco HS) scoring all three of his goals in the fourth period. Parra turned away 10 shots on goal, while the Cerritos defense forced seven turnovers against the Pirates.